Big Strike Bowling offers a light-hearted look at the popular sport of bowling by mixing a wide array of fanciful characters (all customizable) and four venues (classical lanes, tropical beach setting, cosmic atmosphere, and a back-alley alley) with real-world physics. Players make adjustments to the curving arc of the ball prior to delivery, bowler position, speed, and power as they compete in four types of gameplay: Open Game, Team Game, Progressive Play and Tournament. The tournament pits the player's bowler in a bracket consisting of 32 opponents, with a "sudden death" roll-off provided in case of a tie in the final game. Players use money earned by winning tournament games to purchase bowling accessories and items, such as shoes, shirts, pants, and ball covers, as well as to unlock other bowlers and secrets. Player stats, including average, high game, earnings (from progressive and tournament games), percentage of strikes and spares per game, and number of wins and losses, can be saved. Even though the characters are exaggerated and the settings somewhat improbable, action in Big Strike Bowling presents believable challenges ranging from savvy competition to the ignominy of fouling at the line.